Seattle Bicyclists Plan Memorial Ride in Honor of Lance David

Friends and family members of the late Lance David – the man who was killed in a bicycle accident with a semi truck in West Seattle last week – will be participating in a memorial ride Tuesday evening at 5:30 in West Seattle.

Lance David was killed Wednesday morning during his morning bicycle commute into downtown from the West Seattle area. The details of the accident are still under investigation, but preliminary reports suggest Mr. David’s death may have simply been the result of an unfortunate accident.

According to the Seattle Bike Blog, E Marginal Way is the only viable commuting option for bicyclists who commute between the West Seattle Bridge and the downtown area. The pavement isn’t safely paved, and as we reported in a previous post the roadway is a ticking time bomb for bicyclists with skinnier road-style tires.

The accident, as untimely and devastating as it may have been, has revived discussions about various options that the city has for improving the safety of E Marginal Way and preventing deadly bicycle accidents such as this from occurring again in the future.

Tuesday evening’s memorial ride will meet at Seacrest Park in West Seattle at 5:30 p.m. For more details, see the announcement form West Seattle Bike Connections and Seattle Neighborhood Greenways:

A family and community were devastated by a horrific collision on Wednesday, May 1. Lance David, a careful commuter, loving family man, and valued employee was struck and killed by a collision with a truck being driven on East Marginal Way. It’s the sort of tragedy we hear about far too often, and yet it happens over and over again in our cities where streets are simply not yet designed for the safety of all people.

Please join representatives of West Seattle Bike Connections, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board, Commute Seattle, West Seattle Spokespeople, Cascade Bicycle Club, the Port of Seattle, and the City of Seattle on a memorial ride to honor Lance David and focus attention on how our community can support streets that are safe, healthy, and livable. We are all part of a growing local movement to actively support safe and healthy streets for people of all ages and abilities. East Marginal Way should be like all Seattle streets — safe for people riding bicycles, hauling freight, walking, and driving cars.

Route: Follow a common West Seattle commuting route on a flat 3.2-mile ride (Alki bike path to West Seattle Bridge path to the site of Wednesday’s crash).

Why: We want the freedom to choose to travel on safe, healthy, livable streets. East Marginal Way is a necessary but hazardous segment of the daily commute for many people going to and from West Seattle by bicycle. We want to learn from this tragedy, make the commute safer for people in West Seattle, and have our city invest in streets that are safer for people all over Seattle. We need our streets to be built so our movement is predictable and safe.

Lance David worked in freight and shipping, just like the truck driver involved in the collision. Shipping company employees, like all of us, depend on safe routes to get us to work and back home again. The people in Seattle all want to live in a healthy, livable city that supports great jobs and gives us freedom to choose how to get to work.

Don Brubeck, co-founder of West Seattle Bike Connections says, “I will never forget seeing Lance and all the emergency vehicles on the road. It could have been any of us. We’ve been trying to make East Marginal Way safer for a long time. We support safe streets for our jobs, for our children, for a healthy environment. And while children may not commute along this stretch of road, our children need to have their moms and dads come home safely.”

Participants on this ride support the goals of Seattle’s Road Safety Action Plan to achieve zero fatalities and serious injuries by taking action. With more effective public policy, better engineering, stricter enforcement and more responsive education, we can work together to prevent thousands of deaths and injuries.

Let’s look out for each other Seattle. Please help us to pay our respects to Lance David and show support for safer, healthier streets!

The people over at the Seattle Bike Blog also created a detailed map of the route that Tuesday's ride will cover:

Statute Of Limitations

The Statute of Limitations (SOL) is a law that sets a strict limit on the amount of time that an accident victim has to file a legal claim or action in order to recover financial compensation for their injuries, lost wages, medical bills, etc.

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